Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf with Almonds and Barberries
A luscious lightly spiced fruity brown basmati rice pilaf with fried almonds. It makes a fantastic addition to any Middle Eastern inspired feast.
Last week I cooked up a Middle Eastern feast. I’ve already posted about the green veggie meatballs with tomato sauce. Now I bring you splendid rice recipe which I made to accompany it.
Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf with Currants, Barberries and Almonds
Middle Eastern food is probably my favourite cuisine, though I also love Asian food, Italian and many British classics. I think it must be in my genes. However, I rarely make rice pilaf. I’ve no idea why as it’s easy to make and creates a celebratory air to a meal. I’m so glad I pushed the boat out a little this time. It complimented the tomato sauce and green veggie balls wonderfully.
I received the main ingredients to make this brown basmati rice pilaf in my last Suma order. Just in case you don’t know, Suma is a long established whole food worker’s co-operative which supplies both shops and individuals with all sorts of healthy and organic foods as well as their own branded products. They’re an organisation I’ve long admired and I’m delighted to work with them as part of the Suma Blogger’s Network.
Brown basmati rice pilaf is simple to make and quick to put together. Having said that, rice always benefits from pre-soaking, so a little planning, whilst not necessary, is useful. If you like fluffy rice which doesn’t clump together, this is a good way to prepare it. You may want to be a bit more careful with the nuts than I was though and not burn them – oops!
The cinnamon and cardamom give a mild but welcome spicy note. The currants provide bursts of sweetness whereas the barberries offset this with a tangy sourness. The nuts are crunchy and delicious, even if a little charred.
All in all, this is a delicious way of serving rice and well worth making to accompany many Middle Eastern inspired dishes. It’s fit for an Oriental potentate, quipped CT. I don’t know if he was imagining his harem favourite spooning this into his mouth, but he seemed to enjoy it.
Other Rice Recipes You Might Like
- Chocolate mushroom risotto via Tin and Thyme
- Coriander lemon rice via Simply Food
- Halloumi rice bowl with ginger carrots and caraway cabbage via Tin and Thyme
- Jewelled Persian rice via Tin and Thyme
- Mexican brown rice via Tin and Thyme
- Mozzarella stuffed mushroom arancini via Foodie Quine
- Rice bowl with maple tofu and smoked tomato sauce (vegan) via Tin and Thyme
- Warm rice & quinoa salad with pan fried tofu via Fab Food 4 All
- Wild mushroom baked risotto via Family Food Friends
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If you’d like more middle eastern inspired recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf. Pin It!
Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf – The Recipe
Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf with Currents, Barberries and Almonds
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 cardamom pods
- 50 g currants
- 25 g dried barberries
- 240 g brown basmati rice
- 750 ml hot water
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 75 g whole almonds
Instructions
- Soak the rice in warm water for at least 2 hours before cooking. Wash and drain well.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large pan.
- Throw in the cinnamon and cardamom pods and fry for a couple of minutes or until you can smell the spices.
- Add the currants and barberries. Stir and allow to sizzle for a minute or so.
- Stir in the rice until all the grains are well coated in oil.
- Add the water and salt and bring to the boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to lowest setting and cook for 20 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave covered for ten minutes to continue steaming.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a small frying pan. Add the nuts and fry them over a moderate heat for 5 minutes or so. Keep stirring and be careful not to let them burn.
- Fluff up the rice with a fork. Turn out into a serving dish and top with the almonds.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
This brown basmati rice pilaf with currents, barberries and almonds is my eighth recipe for the Suma Blogger’ Network.
Some of the ingredients for this recipe were provided by Suma. I was not expected to write a positive review and all opinions are, as always, my own. Thanks to my readers for supporting the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
Haven’t tried Barberries before. I’m intrigued! Looks like you made great use of the Suma Basmatti. Cooked to perfection 🙂
Barberries are great for adding additional flavour to rice dishes. A little goes a long way though, they are very tart.
I’m loving this rice! It’s packed with flavorful ingredients, that I love, and looks very appetizing!
I might just make a double load of the almonds, to eat while I wait for the rice, haha! They look Super crunchy 🙂
Making a double batch of almonds is a sound idea Elinor, only don’t burn them like I did – oops!
Well I am just loving all those flavors and textures! What a lovely side dish!
Thanks Rebecca. I should really tart up my rice a bit more often. It’s so good.
This looks rather fab, Choclette – and so easy too. I’ve never seen barberries here but I bet pomegranate arils would work really well instead!
I like that you have a similar attitude toward rice as me – I love the stuff! When I lived in South Asia, it was not unknown for me to eat it three or four times a day! Ha ha! Have you ever tried red Thai rice? It’s absolutely wonderful – really nutty and flavoursome.
By the way, in the body of your post, did you mean to say coriander?
“The cinnamon and coriander give a mild but welcome spicy note.”
It’s just that that there’s no coriander listed in the recipe – did you mean cardamom?
Barberries are a bit tarter than pomegranates, but I’m sure they’d do a good job. I’ve not tried red Thai rice, so that’s something to look out for.
Thanks for pointing out my typo. I meant cardamom of course 🙂
I like you love Middle eastern food so much. It’s so versatile and so healthy tasting and this brown basmati pilau is such a great example of how interesting and delicious arias dish can be compared to serving regular boiled rice. I’d eat this as a main course anytime!
Thanks Laura. I’m not sure using brown rice is desperately authentic, but I do actually prefer the flavour as well as the health benefits.
Lovely lovely recipe! I think rice is one of my favourite things and I love all the flavours you have added to it here. It is a meal in itself.
Thanks Helen. Rice is wonderful stuff. It’s hard to imagine a diet without it.
This looks amazing, I love pilaf and I really like the detail you’ve gone into as I hate it when my rice clumps together.
Thanks Angela. There is something very unappealing about stodgy rice I find.
This looks gorgeous, and I love the sound of those flavours together. Delicious!
Thanks Helen. I don’t know why I don’t make pilaf more often.
Your rice dish sounds delicios, I lovevmiddle Eastern flavours and you have really inspired me to go and recreate this dish.
Thanks Nayna. I expect you’ll put your own twist on it, but do let me know how you get on.
that rice genuinely looks stunning! I love that almonds on top too… I would devour this.
Warm crunchy almonds that haven’t been charred are an absolute delight 😉
The rice must be very delicious with sesame oil! Did you use toasted sesame seed oil or cold pressed?
I’d normally use butter with this type of dish, but I thought I’d try it with sesame oil. I used cold pressed rather than toasted, but now you come to mention it, a little toasted sesame oil as a final finish would have been a good idea.